Friday, October 3, 2008

You worry about whether Palin would be ready to be president, but she would be vice president. Obama is the presidential candidate and he has less executive experience than Palin.

Nobody on either ticket except Palin has executive experience, so the executive experience thing is non-starter as far as I am concerned. Furthermore, Alaska with its oil revenues ain't exactly the same as running another state.

However, you raise a very good point. The question of whether Obama is ready to be president or not is much more important than whether Palin is. He has allayed my fears that he won't do anything rash and stupid in an emergency. However, I worry that, like Jimmy Carter, he might dither when the shit hits the fan.

Furthermore, Obama's spending plans concern me immensely. We simply can't afford them, even with increased taxes. Unfortunately, I think we need to raise taxes and cut spending, but to close the deficit and pay off the debt. I fear he is going to raise taxes and raise spending. Health care coverage for all don't come cheap.

I expect Obama's intention to spend more on US infrastructure and less on Iraqi infrastructure will do a good deal for our economy and federal revenue. Federal spending can be a huge boost for the economy and generate revenue if done wisely.

Universal health care may be revenue neutral or even beneficial for American families. If they pay an additional, say, $400 a month in taxes to support a public/private system, like that in France, and no longer have to pay twice that in health insurance, they win. Our economy also wins if, like in Japan, for example, ill workers can seek immediate treatment (because it is "free") rather than waiting until their condition gets more serious and more expensive.

I would like someone with no health insurance to visit a clinic to get a wound treated immediately than to wait until the wound is infected and requires a hospital stay and far more expensive procedures. Even if I do not pay that person's bill, I suffer a loss of federal revenue--that person's share of the tax burden--while they are laid up. Without affordable access to treatment, however, many wait and hope their illness or injury will resolve itself. Great when that happens, but bad for all of us when it does not.

Are we worried that Obama will just sit there and read "The Pet Goat" after being told our country is under attack or would fly over New Orleans and watch a DVD of the damage days after Katrina hit? I would expect we are used to that by now. That cannot be a current, serious concern. He cannot do worse.